i hate you martha sue-wart

i don't know what comes over me sometimes. its as though i have a split personality that tells me that i am craftier than i actually am. a week or so ago i went on the hunt for a halloween costume for nova. as a parent, their child's first halloween is a little bit of a big deal and so i wanted something super cute, but cheap, because cheap is my middle name 99% of the time....unless someone asked if i wanted to go to disneyland....then i wouldn't care how much it cost....but lets get back on track. so i went to the DI to find a gently used costume that would make adults ooohh and ahhh over my daughter. prideful, i know.

anyway, when i arrived i found the cutest skunk costume. well, actually the tail was cute, the rest of the outfit was not. i just really loved the idea of a skunk, so as mentioned above, my split personality martha sue-wart kicked in and said, hey, why not just make the rest of the costume? you can do it....it would be so easy! buy some black clothes and some furry fabric, cut, glue and badda-bing, badda-boom, presto, you have a killer skunk costume! ........sounds crazy i know, but martha is very convincing when she takes over the brain.....so i purchased the outfit and also purchased a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants---for a total of 4 dollars.

so i ran to the fabric store, found some fabric and glue to adhere the fur to the costume, and felt for the little ears. the martha sue-wart part of me and even the suzanne part of me was pretty excited.....so at approximately 11:30pm, when nova was down for the night, i went to work on my seemingly, oh, so simple costume. 5 words people: i hate you martha sue-wart.

you see i cut into the fabric, and it started out ok. i measured and re-measured and cut away. i glued like a crazy mad women when about 10 minutes into the project i realized that instead of buying a 1/4 of a yard of fabric/fur, i had indeed bought a 1/4 of a cat, and it had shed ALL over the table, my legs, arms, neck, in my ears and on the carpet. i could see hairs floating in the air.......again.....i hate you martha sue-wart. then the sneezing started and dan's laughs began. i was near tears of frustration at the hairy mess and the not-so-cute costume that now looked white, not black, because of all the hair. dan tried to cheer me up but i was un-cheer-up-able. why had not i just spent 25 dollars on an old navy costume that would have been hair-free and full of cuteness? why did i THINK it would be a good idea? again....i hate you martha sue-wart. dan convinced me to go to bed----AFTER i made him help me clean up the mess----we were both laughing that we had an invisible cat who did not shed invisible hair-----(not a pet i would recommend)...again, lets move on.

the next morning i was determined to make it work----something about sleep--even 4 1/2 hours of it does a body and a martha sue-wart mind good. i decided to wash the costume and see if it would obliviate all the hairy mess on the sweatshirt. surprisingly it went better than i thought and i was able to partially complete the costume that ended up not that great, but not that bad and WAY to big for nova. she screams every time i put it on, but at least it resembles a skunk, and the fur is connected and not flying all over the house.

the irony in this situation is that nova detests the costume so much that we had a costume party and she didn't even wear it....... i decided a happy baby was better than a screaming, and pretty cute skunk baby. so we went as the napoleon dynamite crew. dan went as napoleon with a hair cut and contacts, i went as deb with a perm, and nova, as a big fan of pedro.

needless to say, despite the pain of making a costume, at least we got a picture, and i overcame martha sue-wart once more. however, i have a note to self-----next time martha sue-wart tries to take over the brain---push her out and go home and take a nap instead!

here is a video of us in our napoleon dynamite get-up. man, we are one GOOD looking fam! (and dan that is one sweet suit! (and actually, my dress is pretty delicious too!))


nova says happy halloween! (and apparantly in these costumes halloween does not stink! she actually was happy when i put on her costume! amazing what naps do for your children!)














also here is a picture of her with a headband she got from tammie---oooooo--scary!

cold showers and candy corns

here is a cute video of nova on sunday after church. she is laughing now and its so much fun. dan insists that she is so happy because she is laying on his transformers pillowcase.....yes, dan has a transformer pillowcase. ANYWAY......its in two parts because my stellar camera skills are not so stellar and i stopped it in the middle.

hmmmMMmmm....other news.....lets think.....nothing really besides cleaning the bathroom, canning applesauce, attending meetings, grocery shopping and changing diapers.....may not sound too exciting for the masses, but i love being a mom........oh, here is some news for people who care....we don't have hot water.....may i vent for a moment about how i despise COLD showers. i don't mind if you get a good hot shower and then it gets slightly chilly towards the end.....completely manageable. its the getting in the shower KNOWING its cold, KNOWING its not going to get hotter, but colder, and KNOWING that you'll get a brain freeze by getting your head wet. THEN, you are cold the rest of the day. its a conundrum that you must choose: warm and stinky, or fresh and freezing. well, this morning i chose fresh and freezing. i have icicles hanging from my hair but at least i feel better...slightly....and definitely more awake!

also, sunday we went for a drive through the canyon and looked at the fall colors. it was the perfect fall tri-fecta. (is that how you spell that?) looking and driving through the fall leaves, eating candy corns and being with my little family. (I LOVE CANDY CORNS! in fact i am thinking about buying 10 pounds for my food storage.......my logic in this is that there is corn in the name so it must be nutritious and give you some sort of folic acid or vitamins right?.......ok, i know thats not true.....but in a perfect world it would be!) aNywAy! it was during this moment, that i reflected on life. sometimes life seems so crazy and out of control, with a lack of sleep and not enough patience. there is too much to do and not enough time, or too many things to pick up and not enough energy. but its when i sit back and try to see the bigger picture that i realize life is meaningless if you don't take the time to enjoy it now instead of trying get ahead so you can enjoy it later.

MHHUI

yesterday was columbus day and instead of wearing wigs and making boats and looking for a new piece of land, i decided to do something a little more on the normal side. we made haunted houses. besides the fact that we both had a sugar high from all the candy and frosting, it was really fun. we decided that since we tied on the dance off we would have people vote on our houses. mine looks like i did it while drunk and blindfolded.....even though i don't drink, i am merely imagining what the end result of a graham cracker house would be if i was MHHUI---that stands for making haunted houses under the influence--in case you didn't know. i also tried a recipe i found in a magazine for mummy dogs. they are so easy and they were pretty fun to eat and i don't even like hot dogs very much. dan liked biting off the heads.....i tried to explain that they were already dead, but once a boy always a boy right?



















nova liked making the houses too!














and nova is so cute! (and dans teeth look nice too......)















slime vs. monster

do you want some water with that?

so like many of you we woke up to a winter wonderland and frosty the snowman dancing outside our window this morning and all i had to say was, "what the october?" don't get me wrong, there is a time within the 12 month period that i go crazy for snow.......just not when i am amid my october/fall loving fest and frenzy. why jack frost must you ruin the moment? blast! anyway, despite the frustration of an early snow storm, you just can't help the little 5 year old that wants to burst out of your body and dance with the flaky, fluffy, snowy jitters and make snow men. no matter when the first snow is and no matter how much you hate it, and even if you refuse to admit it, it does something to you psychologically and it makes you kind of happy---even if it is a fleeting moment.......maybe i'll write a book about it and become famous......

anyway......so i had some hot cocoa tonight and i decided that i put more hot chocolate mix in the mug than there is actual water.......hmmmmmm.......maybe that sounds sick and high caloric to you (whatever that means) but i think its delicious. plus who doesn't want to chew their hot chocolate? hahaha....i joke i joke.....but really i feel that hot cocoa needs to be super duper chocolate-y and not merely brown water......which is why one box of hot cocoa lasts me about 4 servings.......plus then you get more marshmellowy goodness in your cup! yum! why am i blogging about brown liquid you slurp from a mug? i have no idea......lets move on.

in other news, our apartment flooded slightly, my mom came for a visit and my cousin taught me how to can applesauce. 28 quarts baby! we were up to our ankles and elbows in apples and applesauce and apple-seeds and apple dumplings......ok, not really but we were a sticky mess when we were all done, but it was so rewarding and full-filling to do, and man will it ever look good in my pantry.....

and thats about it. nothing more and nothing less. now you see why i haven't blogged in a while. you wear pots on your head for dinner one night and everything after that is pretty boring! but to spice up the post here is a picture or two....

A Short Video Analysis, Or How I Made Fun of Suzanne

Dan here. I know I don't write much, or ever, on the blog. That's mostly for one reason: Suzanne is actually funnier than I am in print, which is embarrassing because I graduated with the degree in English and she studied Integrated Playground Dynamics and Jungle Gym Economics. However, there is one area where I can still claim superiority over Suzanne. Actually, superiority is still too strong of a word; it's more like a slight advantage that does nothing to make me look any less like a goober to the average bystander.

This small advantage is in oratory. I'm just a little better at speaking than Suzanne, mostly because she talks so fast that even she doesn't understand what she's saying. I was on my third date with her before I could decipher what she was talking about. Imagine my shock when all this time she'd been telling me how wonderful her missionary was and just how incredible her current boyfriend was, and just how impressed I'd be when I met them both. I suppose that was one of those times where Heavenly Father sends you a stupor of thought as a blessing. If I had been able to understand all that, I probably would have kept right on walking.

Who says ignorance isn't useful from time to time?

While Suzanne has made a concerted effort to talk slower, she still has a few problems with her mouth running away from her. My mother's eyes still show a slight twinge of panic when Suzanne talks to her, presumably because she's frantically trying to keep pace with all the verbage streaming past her ears.

So it comes as no surprise that in the last blog post, there is a video documenting Suzanne's capacity for verbal blunders. You may recall Johnny Seed Apple Dee? Well, I've been teasing her mercilessly about that because it reminds me of one of my all-time favorite moments in TV history. As evidence, I've compiled a short video below highlighting the fleeting similarity between my wife and a hairy man...that came out wrong. Apparently I'm not immune to the occasional blunder as well.

But don't take my word for it. Take a look at the video below and let us know what you think.



And special thanks goes to ABC, the producers of Wipeout, and one particularly ineloquent guy for providing me with endless bouts of gut-busting laughter. I've never replayed a video so often in my life.

johnny seed apple what?

yesterday was a very important day in the history of america. it is a day that i have never actually celebrated before, but upon hearing about the day and its utter significance it became very apparent that a celebration, a party even, was in order. the reason for the celebration? the apple man himself.......johnny. ok, ok, who has ever heard of johnny appleseed day really......i never have, but i really was pretty excited when i heard about it seeing that i always want a reason to have a party or celebrate something random. so the following video depicts what we did last night in memory of the man johnny and his apple seeds.


dan was sporting a DI pot, nova an orange plastic bowl, (and a ceramic mug for the picture) and i was wearing a pressure cooker. (please note: when wearing pots upon the head, they can cause what is known as 'pot-head' after you take them off.....not to be confused with a druggie......who also can be called a pot head.......which from the way i am talking on the video one may think i was smoking pot......johnny seed apple what? this is not true.....i just suffered a minor case of thought dyslexia......thats all.....anyway......)

needless to say, i was probably a little too excited about our dinner party, dan was a good sport, (i don't think he completely understood what he was getting into when he married me.....too late now eh?) and nova was not a big fan of the whole dinnerware on her head idea.....i can't imagine why.....regardless of the reception that johnny appleseed day received in our house i would personally like to thank johnny for giving me something to make memories with, because life isn't about how much money you make or what kind of car you drive or how skinny you are after pregnancy. its about laughing and making memories. its about fun things like wearing pots on your head and purple pancakes. it is in the journey that we receive the most fulfillment. thank you johnny for giving us something to celebrate.

toaster vs fridge

so the gift that i got at the retreat was a stop watch key chain that plays a clip from high school musical. so for family night we put it to good use for the activity and we had a dance off. dan and i constantly debate who has the better dance moves. (seriously we know we aren't good dancers, but whatever.....) so we decided we would settle it once and for all. feel free to vote on the poll and let us know who you think won the competition. also, at the end of the music piece there is a short piece of music with no words and the rule of the game was the person recording had to call out a kitchen appliance that the person had to incorporate into their dance moves......ya, we are a little weird, but it sure made for a fun family home evening eh?

here is a video of nova too--mostly because i know my mom could care less about the dance off, and she just wants to see nova. which i don't blame her because nova is pretty cute. but as you can see from the video, she does cute pretty well.